


Breaking the Chains

by Tagrasso



Series: Tales of the Rimworld [1]
Category: No Fandom
Genre: Adventure, Deities, Demons, Elves, Fantasy, I have no idea how this story will end, M/M, Magic, Maybe fluff, Maybe some angst, Rimworld - Freeform, Slavery, Spirits, The Divine Empire, Violence, tagging all the tags, unconventional magic system
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-02
Updated: 2019-03-28
Packaged: 2019-10-21 00:42:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 11,352
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17632847
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tagrasso/pseuds/Tagrasso
Summary: In a world, in which elves, slaves, mages and accidents are generally disliked, a young elven slave finds out he is a mage by causing an accident.The first story set in the Rimworld, a selfmade universe with rare and powerful magic, an ongoing war between divines and demons, and an Empire that decided it might be a good idea to enslave all elves.{For addititonal information about the Rimworld visit my tumblr welcome-to-the-rimworld}





	1. Prologue

_From the moment of his first breath, Lethan’s entire life had been planned out by those who owned him. Born a slave, he was to be raised among other elven children, being taught nothing but submission and blind loyalty. At the age of five, he was to be sold to the owners of a goldnut-plantation where he would harvest the prized nut and take care of the trees together with other Elves. Until eventually at the age of about thirty, give or take, he was either going to die in the field from over exhaustion during the summer, or die from some kind of infection during the winter. His body would then be disposed in some pit on a pile of bodies from those who died before him._

_Until it was already too late to turn around, he did not even consider there to be another option than this. To him, this was his destiny, he was nothing more but a tiny piece of a bigger organism that would be replaced as soon as it stopped working. Luckily for him, and much to the disappointment of the slavers, there were other forces at work, who decided that Lethan would be better off if he did not follow these plans._

 

* * *

 

It was a hot late summer evening, the sun was high up, the air was humid and the chirping of crickets drowned out the exhausted groans of the slaves. Harvesting the tiny, brown, almost perfectly round nuts was hard work, especially since the harvest season was during the hottest months of the year.

Lethan’s hands were sore and blistering from climbing the trees to harvest the nuts. There were thousands of trees and not enough Slaves. He was small though, even for an Elf, which gave him a bit of an advantage at climbing through the dense branches of the goldnut tree. He looked down at the fruit in his hand, with its hard and smooth shell. He placed it in the linen bag that was hanging from his shoulder. After wiping the sweat from his forehead, the young man climbed down the tree and emptied the bag into one of the baskets inside the wheelbarrow. They were full now and he smirked slightly. He was allowed to get something to drink and eat now, before he had to head back to work again.

On the way back to the farmhouse the sweat ran down Lethan’s bare back. It was a canvas of long and thin scars. Some of the other Elves envied those who were owned by the Lords and Ladies of the City. There were no whips for those Slaves. They were taken care of, cleaned, fed and dressed in nice clothes. But Lethan saw no sense in that. Hoping to be someone else wouldn’t dim his suffering.  
“There you are. Took you long enough,” barked the Overseer, “bring the baskets inside and you can have one cup of water.”

Without looking up, Lethan hesitated for a split second and immediately regretted doing so.

“Is there a problem, Slave?”

“No, Sir,” he answered and squinted his eyes, “Its just-“ Another mistake.

“Just what?” The Overseer’s voice was menacing as he approached and raised his whip. “Speak your mind.”

At this point he had pretty much given up hope. Staying silent would definitely result in punishment but speaking wouldn’t be any better. “Usually we get a little more than one cup,” Lethan mumbled, “and maybe some food?”

The Overseer exploded in laughter and Lethan made a grimace in expectance of pain. The bald, tall, muscular human looked down at the Elf. “Well, you see, with this heat there is less water in the fountain, so we have to make cuts. And your Lord decided that you dirty Elves were eating too much and getting fat. If you work hard, you might get a few crumbs tomorrow. Now go.”

This time he didn’t hesitate a moment to get away from this man. He didn’t get hit, which felt like a grand victory to him. But the news of getting nothing to eat was like a punch to the stomach.

 

A few hours later the sun was about to touch the horizon. The air was still full of heat and Lethan’s whole body was sore, he was hungry, but at least he had finished his load for today. He was sitting inside on the thing he called a bed, apathetically staring at a piece of old metal that could generously be described as a mirror. His own green, feline eyes were staring back, framed by his tanned skin and matted, white hair. A pair of antlers were sprouting from his forehead to the back and he was wearing a heavy iron collar.

When the door suddenly opened and the Overseer stepped inside, followed by two of his henchmen, the Slaves all stood up and faced forward. Lethan quickly hid the mirror under the piece of cloth that was his pillow and followed their example.

“So,” the Overseer began slowly walking through the rows of beds, “I was just checking in, seeing if you all were doing all right like the nice person I am-“ he paused a moment and inspected their faces closely, hoping to find any signs of objection- “and what do I see?” He continued his walk over to Lethan. “What were you hiding under your pillow.” It sounded more like a command than a question.  
“Nothing, Sir, I-“ He was interrupted, when the Overseer pushed his pillow away with his stick and revealed the mirror.

“You Elves are vain little shits, you know that? You are not supposed to have such a thing, there is no piece of you worth looking at, and then you have the nerves to lie to me. Boys, what do you think, this pointy-ear hasn’t gotten enough of a beating today, don’t you think?” A wide, ugly grin appeared on his face. His henchmen surrounded him and raised their bats as well.

“No, please,” he whispered as he cowered on the ground, raising his arms over his head. The other Elves were still looking to the door, not daring to move.

“Do you hear him beg?” the Overseer laughed, “well, I think he is not begging loud enough."

A sharp pain spread across his back as the first blow hit him. “No,” he cried, unable to understand what he had done wrong. It was like he had broken a rule he never knew existed. Another blow hit him, stronger this time, and he begged again. Another blow followed by another one and yet another. Hit after hit until he felt the skin of his back open. The pain was immense, he was unable to perceive anything else. He was cowering on the ground, eyes squinted, with an expression of pure pain as another hit followed another one. The beating continued and he had stopped begging, screaming internally, but refusing the Overseer the joy of letting that scream out. He felt something build up inside him with each hit. Until suddenly, it shattered.

It was a weird feeling. For a split second he felt like he was standing up in all directions at once, shards of himself, like broken glass, spreading across the room, only to collapse back into the heap on the ground that was him. It took him a moment to realise that the beating had stopped. Carefully Lethan looked up and what he saw filled him with fear.

In a circular area around him, there was nothing. It looked like there had been an explosion, just without any scorch marks. Pieces of his bed were broken and spread across the hall, other’s beds in his surrounding were flipped over and the few things they had scattered. The other Slaves looked at him with blank fear, the Overseer and his assistants were laying unconscious on the ground.

“Run,” a woman’s voice whispered into his ear.

He looked around, but nobody was standing next to him. Still, it seemed like a better idea than to stay and wait for the Overseer to wake up again, so he got up and ran for his life.


	2. Awoken

_“[…] The Divine Empire has its foundation in the firm belief that humans are the direct descendants of the New Gods and as such are superior to any other living being of the Rimworld. Even though these claims are not completely false, they are not the full truth either. […]_

_Over the course of a century, the Divine Empire has fought many successful wars against the Elves and enslaved the majority of their population. […] The entire economy of the Empire is based on Slavery and without it the Empire would, without a doubt, collapse. […] Statistically speaking, four out of five Slaves are of elven kin, […]”_

_\- Excerpts from “About the nature of the Divine Empire”,  
from the library of Alyssea, Goddess of the Mind_

 

* * *

 

The high grass whipped around his legs, slicing his skin open in thin cuts. Lethan did not feel the pain, his only focus was getting as far away from the farm as possible. The sky was painted red and purple in a soft contrast to the dry golden grass, the gnarly grey branches of the goldnut trees and the distant mountains. A cool breeze gently blew over his cheek and played with his hair. It would have been a beautiful scenery but Lethan was not in the mood of enjoying the beauty of nature. Instead he was very much in the mood of running from the distant shouts that seemed to be slowly catching up with him.

The border of the farm appeared behind the last rows of trees, a low, mossy stonewall. It was definitely not high enough to keep anybody from leaving, the fear was what kept the slaves inside. But right now, Lethan’s fear of staying was far greater than the fear of leaving. He leapt over the wall, but tripped on the other side and fell onto the rocky ground. The impact took his breath. From the other side of the wall, the shouts caught up. There was no way he would be able to outrun them, not with his injuries. The grass was longer on this side, so he decided to lay low and creep along the wall, praying to whomever might listen that they would not find him.

Suddenly a fox peeked through the grass. It looked Lethan deep into the eyes and then as quickly as it appeared, it disappeared into the direction that Lethan was coming from. The voices were close now and he recognised the Overseers barking commands. They climbed across the wall and looked around, but just before they could find him, one of the assistants shouted that he was seeing movement in the grass and they ran off.

Lethan exhaled in relief. It must have been the fox they were seeing. It was only now, as he was sneaking along the wall towards the near forest, that the pain returned. A stinging pain in his palm caused him to look down at his hand. The shard of metal, his mirror, was cutting into his palm and covered in blood. Lethan had not even realised that he took it with him, and he put it into the pocket of his pants. This small piece of metal had caused him all this trouble, but he refused to let go of it. Since a few years it had been the only thing that was his own. He wouldn’t have been able to keep going for so long without it.

The forest came closer and he entered the cool shade of the treetops. He was still confused and irritated. Had he truly been casting magic back then? It must have been someone else, right? Maybe the owner of that voice that had told him to run. Could it have been one of the other slaves? No, there was no way a mage would allow someone to enslave them, not if they could just break free without batting an eye. Everyone he knew was afraid of mages. They were too powerful, too uncontrollable. Lethan had heard stories of mages. People that could tear others apart with just an angry look. They could raise and destroy cities and castles with a snap of their fingers and could command the mightiest of kings with their mind.

And yet it seemed like Lethan himself was a mage. There was no other explanation for what happened.

Suddenly it struck him. He had run away. He had crossed the wall and left the farm. He had overstepped the border that no one ever dared to overstep. His face went pale and he sat down in shock. He could never, ever return or they would kill him on the spot. He needed to keep going, but there was nowhere he could go. Even though the air was still warm, he felt incredibly cold and incredibly lonely.

After trying to calm himself for a few moments, Lethan got back up on his feet with a newly made decision. No matter what, he would survive. He would find something to eat and drink, somewhere to sleep and he would live. Away from slavery, away from the Empire. He was not sure, if he had made that decision on his own, or if someone - something - had made it for him, but it was better than returning to the farm to die.

The way through the forest felt easier than anything Lethan had done before. The soft touch of the moss under his feet was comforting. A warm breeze of air caressed his skin, filled him with new energy and made him feel lighter than ever before.

 

* * *

 

With a deep exhale she opened her eyes and looked up to the face hovering above hers.  
“Did you find it?” asked the young man in whose lap her head was resting. He lifted his palms from her temples.

“No, I couldn’t find any white deer in the entire city,” she sat up, shaking her head, “but I saw a white cat if that helps?”

“Did you seriously look for a deer?” the man asked with a slight hint of exasperation. “I told you it’s a symbol! Now we-“

She interrupted with a deadpan expression. “Do you really think I am that stupid, brother? Of course I didn’t look for a deer.” She continued with a frown, “But no, I couldn’t find any unstable souls. Whoever that deer is, they are not here yet.”

“Ugh, you’re an asshole, Fili.” The man got up and dusted off his pants. “But it is unsettling. I had the vision more than a week ago, something should have happened by now, right? It never takes that long…”

Fili watched her brother pace around in circles for a few moments, before she got up from the ground and strolled over to a bowl of fruit that was sitting on a low table next to a couch. Walking past the bowl, she reached out with her palm and a green apple jumped up into her hand. “I am sure it will happen soon. The spirits might have sent you glimpses of their plans, but sometimes they need a bit of time to kick the avalanche loose.” She laid down on the soft fabric and took a hearty bite from the apple, then continued while chewing. “Darius, would you please stop running in circles, it’s really annoying.”

Darius followed her request and sat down in front of her legs, but he was still frowning and staring intensely at the ground. “But what if they don’t make it here? How are they even supposed to know where to go? Do you think there is just going to be some random spirit who is like ‘hey you need to go there to those guys because fate and shit like that’? Because I don’t think that is going to happen. What if they don’t even believe in fate? I mean, it’s a sketchy concept at best, even I don’t believe it and I have visions!”

“Darius,” Fili sighed and pointed at him with her apple, “you need to shut up and stop worrying so much.”

The only response she got was a long groan.

 

* * *

 

The sun had disappeared behind the mountains by now and the last warmth slowly disappeared together with the red colour of the sky. Lethan didn’t know much about survival in the wild, but he knew that he had to look for food, drink and somewhere warm to sleep. Only wearing rugged pants was not much of an advantage at that point. The burst of energy from earlier had worn off, hunger and thirst slowly began to catch up with him. At least the bleeding on his back had seemed to stop a while ago.

He stopped for a moment when he suddenly heard distant noises. At first he thought the Overseer might have found him after all and his ears began to twitch nervously, but after he spend a few seconds listening it sounded like songs and laughter. Lethan decided to follow the noise towards a light between the trees and shortly after found himself looking at a tavern at the side of a road. Since he couldn’t read, he had no idea what the sign said, but it depicted a badger in a dress waving a jug around.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It was not originally planned for Darius and Fili to appear just yet, but I decided to give them a few lines already because why not!  
> I am also planning on making a few scetches of the main characters but I wont promise anything.


	3. Survival

_“ **Soul, noun:** The second of the three pillars of life, the lifeforce that rests within every living being. It animates the body and contains the mind. […] associated with Saheila, the Goddess Souls, Life and Emotions. […] A being without Soul will not be considered a living being, even if it might be able to act like one due to other unnatural forces, which may substitute the Soul and will most likely be of demonic origin. […]_

_[…] Humans and Elves with so-called ‘unstable Souls’, meaning Souls that are able to leave the body partially or in whole, are also referred to as Mages. It allows them to move objects or watch events without physical presence. […] Mages without proper training are incredibly dangerous, due to uncontrolled eruptions of their Soul that might result in large destruction, cause harm to themselves or other, and even open gates to the elemental or demonic realms. […]"_

_\- Excerpts from “A complete Almanac of the Rimworld”,_

_from the Library of Alyssea, Goddess of Mind_

 

* * *

 

Lethan had carefully approached the tavern. The windows were made of colourfully stained, thick bullseye-glass and it was hard to look through, but he avoided them anyway. The last thing he needed right now was someone seeing him. Lethan crouched around the building, until he reached the backside. A window was open and the smell of food swept outside. Lethan’s stomach began to growl and he dared to peek inside.

An Elf was standing at the stove, stirring in a big pot. Her humming was barely noticeable over the loud noises that came through a closed door. She seemed to be rather clean and healthy, her brown hair was bound together in a neat ponytail and her antlers weren’t as worn down and dull as Lethan’s. The only thing that revealed she was a slave was the solid iron collar around her neck.

Lethan shifted his weight, trying to get a better look inside to see if there was something close to the window he could take. He placed his palm on the window frame to pull himself up, but the wood creaked under the sudden pressure. The elves ears twitched and she whirled around, a ladle raised like a weapon, and stared at him with a mixture of surprise and shock.

Lethan was not sure what to do. She had seen him, it was too late to hide. She slowly laid the ladle down and threw a quick glance at the door. Then, with obvious hesitation, she made her way over to the window, her index finger pressed on her lips.

Just as she arrived at the window, the door to the kitchen burst open and Lethan pressed himself to the ground. He heard the hoarse voice of a woman shouting: “Is the stew ready? Our guests are hungry!”

“Almost, milady,” answered the Elf, “just a few more moments.”

“Hrm. Whadya doin’ over at the window, girl?” grunted the woman.

“Oh, nothing, milady, just getting a bit of fresh air. It is quite stifling and hot in here.”

The woman grunted again, apparently satisfied with that explanation and the door was slammed shut again.

Lethan looked up and the Elf stared at him with crossed arms. “I have no idea who you are or what you are doing her, but you can’t stay, you will get us both in trouble,” she hissed and disappeared from the window.

Lethan nodded and turned around to leave when the Elf cleared her throat.

“Still, I can’t leave you to starve out there.” She held bundle wrapped in a brown cloth out of the window. “Just take it already and go!”

He nodded and managed to breath out a quiet “thanks,” before she quickly closed the window in front of his face.

 

Lethan had followed the road for a while and after some time he went deeper into the forest. He sat down at the roots of a tree with a yawn and began to open the bundle in his hands. It contained a small and deformed loaf of bread, an apple that was softer than an apple should be, and a petty bit of dried meat. To Lethan it was the greatest feast.

He only managed to eat the apple and half of the bread before he was already full. He would still have to find something to drink, but that was something he would take care of tomorrow. He tore off a piece of the cloth to wrap the leftovers in, and used the rest as a blanket, as he curled up into a ball and closed his eyes. Sleep found him quickly, since he was used to sleeping on uncomfortable surfaces.

 

When Lethan opened his eyes again, the rays of the moon fell through the leaves and painted dancing patterns onto the ground. A soft breeze brushed through the branches and made the only audible sound. Something was wrong.

Lethan sat up and his vision fell on the silhouette of a person kneeling before him. He jumped onto his feet and took a defensive stance, hissing and baring his teeth. The person did not seem impressed.

“Sit down,” a female voice whispered. She was soft and warm, but it also sounded hoarse, as if the woman had been crying recently. “We need to talk and we don’t have much time before they will notice I’m here.”

“They?” Lethan asked cautiously while kneeling down. “Who are you?”

“I do not have time to answer questions, sadly. You need to follow the road. Go to the city of Summersgate, find the mages. They will help you.” A ray of moonlight danced over her face and revealed a shocking image. Her eyes were blindfolded and two streams of dried blood were running down her cheeks. The tips of here ears were cut off and encrusted in blood, but she seemed to be elven, judging from the two stumps on her forehead that told him someone had broken off her antlers.

A cold shiver ran down Lethan’s spine and the woman quickly pulled the hood of her cloak deeper into her face. “Do not be afraid-“ her voice seemed to be full of pain now- “I did not choose to come before you like this. It was not my choice to make. We are all slaves of the Empire after all.” Those last words were heavy with bitterness and anger, so much that Lethan felt those emotions resonating within himself, causing him to clench his fists.

A single tear ran down his cheek and when he wiped it off with his thumb and held it into the moonlight, he was unable to tell if it was water or blood. “W-Who are you?” he repeated, but the woman shook her head.

“They will find me. I have to leave now, for your own security. We will meet again, my child, my precious little Soul. And all your questions will find their answers.” She slowly rose from the ground and it was only now that Lethan noticed how tall she was. Taller than every elf he had seen, taller than every human even.

“Who are you?” he whispered again, more to himself than to her.

Lethan blinked a few times. He was still kneeling on the ground and he was still in the forest. But it was not night anymore and the light that fell through the treetops was not silver, but golden. And the woman was gone. He looked down at his thumb. It still was wet from his tear.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a little shorter than the others because I felt like this was a good point to stop, idk...


	4. Encounter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW blood and violence and stuff I guess...

_“_ **_Body, noun:_ ** _The first of the three pillars of life, the vessel that holds Soul and Mind, and interacts with the world around it. […] the domain of Varus, God of the Body, the Father, the Protector. […] A being without a Body is a spirit, a ghost. Bodiless beings will do all that lays within their power to try to obtain a vessel. They might seek out to possess the Bodies of the living, or (with guidance of a mage) a corpse or other inanimate objects. […]_

_[…] If the Body of a living being suffers enough harm, the connection to Soul and Mind will be torn. The Soul will evaporate into the surrounding area, while the Mind will be guided away by the [Translator’s note: this piece of the text was regrettably burnt and thus no longer readable]. This situation is commonly regarded as the death of that being. […]”_

_\- Excerpts from “A complete Almanac of the Rimworld”,_

_from the Library of Alyssea, Goddess of Mind_

 

* * *

 

Birds were chirping in the branches above; golden sunlight fell through the luscious green branches above. Since there was nothing else for him to do, Lethan was following the road that slowly but steadily led up to the distant mountain range. The rug was wrapped around his shoulders, covering most of his torso and he held the bundle of leftovers closely in his arms. His throat was dry, he would have to look for water soon, and small rocks buried themselves into his bare feet, but for now he tried to ignore those problems.

While walking, Lethan’s thoughts were somewhere else. He was unsure what would wait for him in Summersgate, and he was afraid of what might happen. A slave on the run was nothing the Divine Empire tolerated and without doubt there was a bounty on his head already. Which in return meant that people in the city might recognise and turn him in. Was it really a good idea to go there? He just got away from the humans, it seemed like a horrible decision to run into their open arms. He could flee into the mountains, live a happy life in some cave far, far away from the grasp of the Empire.

But at the end of the day he would not be free.

“You will never be free.” Those words, that cursed sentence which he had been told over and over again as a child. Whenever he had refused an order- “You will never be free.” Whenever he questioned his masters- “You will never be free.” Over and over again, until eventually he began to believe it.

Lethan was so lost in thoughts that he did not notice the two men approaching until it already was too late.

One of them, a tall one with dark hair and beard and a malicious grin, tramped right into Lethan and made him topple back.

“Look who we have here, a lonely, dirty slave!” The man laughed, as Lethan looked up, eyes wide open in fear and ears twitching nervously.

“I think I’ve seen that face before,” grinned the other, slightly shorter but not less bulky. “Wasn’t that the guy on the poster? An elf, white hair, green cat-eyes. Seems like we caught ourselves some gold here!”

Lethan backed off and stood up straight. His heart was racing. “I’m warning you,” he bluffed, “leave me alone, I am a mage!” He tried to sound intimidating, but his voice trembled.

The shorter man frowned. “A mage? The poster said nothing ‘bout that…”

“Don’t piss yaself,” the taller one bared his teeth and pulled out a long knife. “Mages ain’t real, they’re fairy tales!”

Lethan backed off further, when the second man also drew his weapon and they slowly came closer. He had to do something. Now. He could try to run, but he doubted he would make it far. Fighting was not an option, they were stronger than him by far.

“Fuck, don’t let me down,” he hissed through gritted teeth. Without averting his eyes from the approaching threat, he tried to focus on what had happened last time. He remembered the sound of shattering glass, the pain of sticks drumming on his back, a weird feeling of calm. ‘Not helpful,’ he thought. He was everything but calm right now. What else was there, what else?

The tall guy thrust his knife forward and Lethan was barely able to dodge it by jumping back.

“Where’s ya magic now, elf?” The man laughed and made a series of slashing movements, before suddenly dashing forward and ramming the knife towards Lethan. It missed his face, but left a cut in his shoulder. The sudden pain made him inhale sharply.

A weird sensation washed over him.

His face turned expressionless and a familiar feeling of serenity filled him. There were no noises and time seemed to slow down. He made a few steps forward, walking through his ambushers, but at the same time he remained right where he stood.

When the serenity left him, he blinked a few times in confusion, then stared at the scene before him in shock. The taller of the two, the one who had been closer, was now laying on the ground. His chest was caved in, blood and bones were spread in a long arc behind him and his face was nothing but a red mess. The other one was a bit unluckier, because he was still alive. His legs and lower body were crushed to a pulp, his arms were dangling uselessly at his side, blood ran from his mouth and he seemed to have a few broken ribs, but he was still staring at Lethan in horror, while panting heavily.

The man tried to say something, but he made only gurgling noises before he suffocated from his own blood and his eyes rolled up into his skull.

Lethan made a step back. His eyes were wide open and a shiver ran down his spine. He killed two men, but besides shock he also felt fear, anger and… satisfaction? Those men deserved their fate, right? They had tried to kill him, so Lethan _had_ to act first… right?

He took a deep breath to get himself together. He couldn’t be seen with two corpses and the scene was too messy to clean up, so he carefully walked around and then ran.

He ran as quick as his feet carried him, the bundle of food still pressed to his chest. Again and again Lethan tried to get rid of the image that burned itself into his mind, tried to convince himself that he had seen worse, but he knew that it was a lie. Never before had he seen anything like that and for the first time he was afraid of what he could do.

His decision was set now, more than ever. He would go to the Summersgate, find the mages and learn how to control this new power. He could not allow this to happen again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again a shorter chapter, I will try to make them longer in the future...


	5. Arrival

_“_ **_Mind, noun_ ** _: The third pillar of life, the identity of a living being. It holds memories, thoughts, decisions, etc. […] domain of Alyssea, Goddess of Mind, Keeper of knowledge, personification of rational thought. […] A creature without a Mind is nothing more than a puppet, unable to think on its own and only able to act under the direct control of a being with Mind (generally mages, demons or other spirits). […]_

_[…] Though it might not seem like it, even the most primitive forms of life are in possession of a Mind. Mammals and reptiles, and even beings like insects and plants have a Mind and thus a form of thought. However, their mental capacities are far less developed than the Minds of human and elven kin. […]”_

_\- Excerpts from “A complete Almanac of the Rimworld”,_

_from the Library of Alyssea, Goddess of Mind_

 

* * *

 

After hours of walking, the path eventually joined with a bigger road and with it came the traffic. A bunch of carriages were being pulled over the cobblestone, either by mule or by hand, loaded with baskets and crates. Two men on horses came from the city and rode dangerously close past Lethan. A few elven slaves were carrying baskets full of fruits and firewood.

Lethan had eaten his last bits of food a while ago, it had been hard to eat the dried meat without thinking back to the bodies he had left behind, and the piece of cloth that held them was now wrapped around his head and tucked under his antlers in an attempt of hiding his hair. If the two men earlier had recognised him, the guards of Summersgate would certainly do so too.

As he walked along the road, the walls of the city appeared in the distance, reaching high up to the sky. The tall gates were wide open, a slow but steady stream of carriages and pedestrians flowing in and out. The banners of the Divine Empire were draped right and left to the gates, proudly displaying their regalia, a three-pointed star in a circle, stitched with golden thread on white cloth. The men guarding the gates carried the same regalia on their shields and chests, but their armour was dyed a vibrant sapphire blue, proclaiming them servants of the guardian-god Varus.

Lethan kept himself closely to another elf, who was pushing a wheelbarrow full of cabbages, and tried to avoid the scanning glances of the guards. He passed without being held back and exhaled deeply in relief. The road led further into the city, past high buildings, alleys splitting off to the right and left, until eventually it ended at a town square. Lethan’s jaw dropped in awe, as he laid his eyes upon the huge construction in the middle of the square.

On a circle of tall ornate pillars rested a dome, made of colourful stained glass that depicted an ornate version of the divine regalia, in shades of blue, green, and red instead of the regular white. The sunlight that fell through the thousand shards of the dome painted a mosaic of colours onto the ground and the tall marble statue that dominated the centre of the town square. The gods of the Trinity; Varus, Saheila, and Alyssea, standing back to back, holding hands with their fingers intertwined and their arms outstretched to the corners of the star above. Lethan didn’t know much about the gods of the humans, he had heard their names before, but he never saw what their effigies looked like.

The statue of Varus was in the blue side of the star. He was tall and muscular, his wide grin was framed by chin long hair and a beard. He was wearing pieces of armour and a shield was resting against his left leg. Alyssea stood in the red side, she seemed older and wise, and was smiling a gentle smile. Her hair was long and braided in an overly complicated way and she was wearing a long flowing dress. Piles of books were resting at her feet.

When Lethan walked around the dome to the green side of the star, to look at the statue of Saheila, his eyes opened wide in surprise. She looked younger than the other two and shorter, and in contrast to the other statues, she was not smiling. She wore a cloak that was wrapped around her body. Under its hood, Lethan saw a blindfold hiding her eyes and he recognised the sharp features of her face.

It was her.

The woman from his dream. Her words echoed through his mind again. “We are all slaves of the Empire.” What did she mean by that? How was it possible to enslave a god? Lethan turned away from the statue. Something was very wrong about all this, and he was not sure if he wanted to be a part of it.

Something else caught his attention. At the edge of the square was a small fountain, happily spouting out clear water, and suddenly his thirst returned. His dream was a problem for later, he decided, while quickly hurrying over to the spring. The water was cool and refreshing, and Lethan drank and drank, until a sudden shout made him choke.

“Hey!” A guard approached him and crossed his arms. “What are you doing? The drinking fountains are for humans only!” The guard watched Lethan for a moment, who was too busy coughing to answer, then frowned. “What, not even an apology? You elves get more insolent by the day. You know, I should probably take you to the barracks. Your master will have to pay a fee for your behaviour, you know that? It’s not very nice of you to put them in this situation.”

While the guard carried on ranting about how it was unthankful of Lethan to put his master into this kind of trouble, after all the ‘charitable sacrifices’ and ‘loving treatment’ he had received, Lethan finally stopped coughing. He had absolutely no idea how to react to this kind of situation, so he just watched the guard nervously and nodded every now and then.

 

* * *

 

Filipa Sedan was laying on the couch thumbing through a book about wild fungi, when her brother entered the room and crossed his arms behind his back with a frown. “Fili, I-“

“Let me guess,” she interrupted without looking up, “you want to do another search.”

“Yes.”

“Great! I was getting bored anyway.” She closed the book with a loud clap and dropped it on the couch, then strode over to Darius in a few long steps. “Let’s go then,” she grinned, and her brother answered with a self-assured smile.

Darius kneeled on the floor, and Fili laid down before him, resting her head in his lap. She felt the sweaty warmth of his palms pressing against her temples and suppressed the urge to make a sassy comment. Instead she closed her eyes and relaxed. She sensed her soul and that of her brother, and she sensed the bond between them. She focused, then took a deep breath. And when she exhaled, she pushed her soul out of he body. It flowed through the room, like a thin invisible mist. She felt the walls, the floor, the furniture. She blended the sensations of her body out, focusing only on what her soul perceived. And while her soul spread through the room, through the building, through the streets, she felt her brother pushing the connection between their souls, letting more and more of his soul flow into hers.

Fili began to sense the souls in the buildings around them. The further her soul spread, the thinner it got, and the less detail was she able to feel. Nevertheless she pressed on, pushing her soul further and further, letting it flow through the streets, through walls and alleys. After a while she couldn’t sense her surroundings anymore, she couldn’t feel the stone of the buildings, only the souls of the others.

Hundreds and thousands of souls. She felt the lives of the people, each and everyone living their own lives, having their own problems and successes and it filled her with sonder. So many people were living in Summersgate, so many strangers. Fili began to focus on the souls, searching for any soul that seemed odd.

And then she sensed it.

Her entire soul, thinly spread out through the whole city, pulled itself together into one spot in the brink of a second. Fili was standing at the Trinity’s square now, looking at an elf, who was being confronted by a guard. She smiled. “Found you,” she whispered, even though she knew that they could neither hear nor see her. And with one deep inhale, she pulled herself back into her body.

Fili opened her eyes and groaned. “Okay, so there is good news and bad news. The good news is I found your dear deer! The bad news is they might be in trouble.” She got up and rubbed her palm against her forehead. “Wait here, I will go fetch him.”

 

* * *

 

The guard had been talking for what felt like ages now, and Lethan was trying to think of a plan to escape. He couldn’t allow the guard to take him to the barracks, he was still wanted after all. If he managed to create some kind of diversion, he might be able to run.

“Ah well, I got carried away here,” the guard sighed, “now, would you please follow me?”

Lethan’s heart started pounding, when the man firmly took his wrist and pulled him away from the square. Maybe he could run away once they were in a street with less traffic?

A woman with a fierce smile stepped in their way. She had long, dark red hair and was wearing a grey silken dress. “Excuse me, sir, where are you taking my elf?” Her elf? She must have confused him with someone else.

“L-Lady Sedan?” the guard stuttered, then made a quick bow. “Please pardon me, milady, I didn’t want to offend you. I thought you didn’t keep any slaves?”

“We didn’t, until recently. He was a gift from a distant relative and how could we reject a gift.”

Lethan was about to object, but the woman’s voice whispered within his head. “Play along, you will be safe with me.” He bowed as well, deeper than the guard, but was still unsure about what was going on. Did he just really hear her voice in his mind?

The man looked down to his feet and began to kick around some dirt. “Well, I found him drinking from one of the fountains, and I am terribly sorry to say that there will be a fe-“

“Oh, will there? I am sure he was just having some water without any malicious intent. Nobody was harmed, right?” She raised an eyebrow and slightly lifted her chin.

“Yes, but-“

“But?”

“Nothing, milady.”

“I thought so,” she smiled. The guard let go of Lethan’s wrist and hastily returned to where they came from.

“Now that he is gone, how about you follow me to my home? My brother is very eager to meet you. What is your name?” She turned around and he followed her through the streets.

“Lethan, milady.”

“Oh, please don’t call me lady, I hate when people do that. My name is Filipa Amelia Sedan, but call me Fili. I only play the mage card when I have to. And sometimes  it gets funny reactions from people. Like that guy, did you see how nervous he was? He almost peed himself.”

Lethan noticed the wide grin on her face and frowned. So, she was one of the mages he was looking for. But she seemed so different from all the humans he had met. “Uh, yes?” It was more of a question than an answer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As Idkthylocinesareprettydope put it: "The plot thickens."
> 
> This chapter is actually pretty long for my standarts, and I had to stop myself from making it any longer. I had actually written half of the next scene already, which is why the end of this chapter might seem a little cut off. Thats because it is cut off.


	6. (Dis)comfort

_“[…] Now, during my studies I have been asked the same question over and over and frankly it is sad, but not surprising, that the people of the Rimworld have forgotten the answer to said question over the ages, which here is: Why is the Rimworld called the Rimworld? The answer to this question is surprisingly simple; the Rimworld is the space in which the borders, the rims of the other worlds, which are here called the elemental planes and the divine and demonic realms, converge and conjoin. […]_

_[…] You could say that the creation of the Rimworld was, by all means, unintentional; you could call our entire existence nothing more than an accident, from some perspectives a regrettable one even, but as it is our nature, we will try to make the best of it. […]”_

\- _from “The Origins of the Rimworld and Existence in itself, Volume 1: The Language of Truth”_

_by Professor Hadrian C. L. Caverius, Head of the Faculty of History at the Imperial University._

 

* * *

 

After a short walk, the buildings began to look taller, cleaner and generally more pristine. The pedestrians roaming the streets wore finer clothes and even the elves looked neat, despite the iron collars.

“Here we are,” Fili announced, opened a dark wooden door and motioned for him to enter with a wide gesture. “Welcome to Sedan Manor.”

Lethan entered into a hall with a large fireplace. Two stairways lead up to a gallery and thick soft carpets covered the smooth stone floor. A shield with an insignia hung above the fire, depicting a heron with wide spread wings. He took the cloth from his head and fidgeted around with it.

Fili closed the door behind her, then suddenly shouted, making Lethan twitch. “Darius, you little shithead! Get down here, we have a visitor!”

Something made a crashing sound from upstairs, then there was a moment of silence, followed by a man in white robes, who came running down the stairs. His hair was pitch black, short on the sides and the upper part was brushed to the side in a way that made it very obvious that this guy had spent a long time to make it look like he didn’t care at all.

“You have white hair!” was the first thing he said, when he stretched out his hand.

Lethan twitched at the hand, expecting to be hit, but when nothing happened, he just looked at the guy in confusion and answered with a cautious “yes?”

“Oh, okay no handshake then, that’s fine with me.” He pulled his hand back but was obviously disappointed.

“Lethan, this is my little twin brother, Darius Marcus Sedan, but you can call him whatever you want. Except shithead, only I can call him that. But we are being bad hosts. You seem like you really need a bath. Darius, can take care of that? I’m going to make dinner in the meantime.”

Lethan frowned, a bit overwhelmed by the weird behaviour of these people. Did she just say she was going to make dinner? Surely she meant that her slaves were going to. But at the town square the guard said that they didn’t have any slaves? Full of questions, but too afraid to ask, he followed Darius into another room with a round wooden tub, that was filled with water.

“How warm do you like your water?” asked the man, while he dipped his hand into the clear surface.

“I- I don’t know? I never had a bath before…” Lethan answered, while fidgeting around with the cloth in his hands.

“You what?” Lethan ducked his head at the sudden sharp question, but to his surprise Darius started laughing. “You are messing with me. Wait. No, you are serious. Are you serious? Oh boy, then you should get the full experience.” He closed his eyes, pulled his hand through the water and exhaled slowly. The tub began to steam a little. “Try, if the water is okay like that.”

Lethan nodded and began to undress; he was already naked and halfway into the tub, when Dorian realised what was happening. He quickly turned around and covered his eyes. Lethan looked at him with a raised eyebrow. He had never met a human who was uncomfortable to see a slave naked before. He had only worn a loincloth when he was sold at the market, and there were hundreds of humans eying him closely. Must be a noble thing, he thought while submerging in the tub. The heat of the water was unfamiliar and strange, but also incredibly soothing and comfortable. He wrapped his arms around his legs and pulled them close to his chest.

“Next to the tub is a table with a bunch of bottles. Take the bottle labelled ‘foam’ and pour a few drops into the water,” said Darius, without turning around.

Lethan looked at the bottles. There were about a dozen of them, all in different sizes and shapes, and labelled with a small, neat handwriting. “Uh… I can’t read,” Lethan murmured and submerged deeper into the water.

“Oh, okay, that’s totally fine, uh-“ Darius took a deep breath- “I am going to turn around now, okay?”

It took Lethan a few seconds in which nothing happened to realise that Darius was waiting for an answer. He raised his mouth above the surface, murmured a quick “okay,” then submerged again. He watched Darius turn around, he had a weird reddish colour on his cheeks, and hastily walk over to the table, where he began to look through the bottles and eventually picked one. With a plopping sound he pulled the cork from the bottle and poured a bit into the water.

“Just… stir a bit and take some time to relax, I will be right back,” Darius said before quickly leaving the room.

Lethan stared at the whirls of orange liquid in the water and disrupted them with one hand. To his surprise, a few bubbles appeared at the surface. He stirred a bit harder and soon the whole surface was covered in tiny bubbles and a pleasant smell spread through the room. He couldn’t tell what it was, but it was sweet and flowery. Lethan leaned back and closed his eyes. A tiny part of him was screaming “trap” over and over in the back of his mind, but he shoved it away and relaxed. It didn’t matter if they were planning something, for now he could enjoy the bath and whatever might happen after that would surely be better than dying at the hands of the slavers.

The frown quickly returned, when Lethan heard the twin’s voices from outside. His ears twitched as he tried to understand what they were saying.

“Did you see? He has white hair, that’s amazing!” This was obviously the voice of Darius.

“Yes, I did, even though right now it has a shade of dirt. What did you expect? White deer? We should have thought of them being and elf earlier. In retrospect it was kind of obvious.”

“I know, I know, but that’s now what I’m talking about. He has white hair! That is so awesome! I bet it looks even better when it’s clean.”

Lethan opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling. What was wrong with his hair being dirty? It had never bothered anyone before. He crossed his arms in front of his chest.

Filipa said something he didn’t understand, then added “now get back in there, I believe he will need help and my hands are full of onion juice.”

Darius returned and was visibly relieved when he saw the layer of foam concealing Lethan’s body. He placed a set of clothes on a small table next to the door and a white square of fluffy fabric next to the tub.

“Do- Do you need help with washing your hair?” Darius asked, while pulling a stool closer and sitting down at the head end of the tub.

Lethan hesitated, unsure what to answer. Did a human just offer him help? He was not used to that and slightly uncomfortable. But on the other hand Darius would surely be disappointed if he denied. How could he even deny a human’s request in the first place? He decided to just nod wordlessly and sank deeper into the tub again.

Darius pointed at the iron collar around Lethan’s neck. “Can you take that off? It might get in the way.”

“Take it off?” Lethan asked in shock and turned around, “I can’t take it off, I’m not allowed to!”

“Who is forbidding you to do so? You ran away, didn’t you? You are free now, you can do whatever you want.”

Lethan stared at Darius for a few seconds, then turned back and closed his eyes. “We are all slaves of the Empire.”

Darius had no idea what to answer to that, so he decided not to.

Lethan squeezed his eyes shut, as Darius began to wet his matted hair with the soapy water. Stings of pain shot through his scalp whenever Darius’ fingers got stuck, which was often, followed by muttered excuses.

Darius reached for another bottle and poured a bit of its contents onto his palm, then began to carefully massage it into Lethan’s hair. The pair of antlers framing his head were not very helpful, and it took him a while to untangle the strands of white from them. The hair got smoother quickly and after minutes of work and a few more drips of the liquid, he was able to comb his fingers through the hair with ease.

Lethan felt Darius’ hands retreat and heard the scraping of wood over stone as Darius stood up and gave him a smile.

“You can use the towel to dry yourself and you can take those clothes. I hope they fit you. I am taller than you, but we don’t have anything else for now.”

He nodded and stood up in the tub, causing Darius to whirl around in shock then quickly leave the room. He really was a weird human, Lethan thought as he stepped out the tub and picked up the towel. He began to dry himself but stopped when his hands reached the collar. He sighed deeply, then continued. When he was done, he twined a strand of his hair between his fingers. It was softer and whiter than it had ever been before, and Lethan was honestly surprised about that.

After taking some time running his hands through his hair over and over again, he eventually put on the clothes Darius had given him. They were smoother than any fabric he had touched before, Lethan hadn’t touched many different fabrics, so this was a low bar to clear, and he was amazed by the lack of scratching against his skin. It didn’t matter that they were multiple sizes too large, these were the best clothes he had ever worn, and when he left the room and was greeted by the pleasant smell of cooked food, he was filled with nothing but disbelief.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A special thanks to idkthylocinesareprettydope for saving my ass multiple times and for adopting my little elf-child uwu (yes I wrote the forbidden letters and there is nothing you can do about it)


	7. Exhale

_“[…] The divine language is by all means a complicated one, not because of any particularly difficult rules of grammar or differences between spelling and pronunciation, but rather because of the meaning behind it. Simply put, the names of the gods are the words which hold the meaning, the essence of their respective domain; the name ‘Saheila’ for example means Soul in the divine language, but it also means life, nature, it is the sound a tree makes when it grows, a fox running through the high grass, the breath of a loved one against your skin, the feeling of wonder and serenity which fills you when you stand at the top of a mountain and let your gaze wander over the landscape below; all this and more is what the word ‘Saheila’ means, it is less a word and more an idea, a concept of what it is to live and feel. […]_

_[…] This also implies that the gods themselves are equal to their domain, instead of being separate beings from it. Saheila is both a person, an individuum with a personality and all that comes with it,_ and _the meaning behind her name; she_ is _the sound of growing trees._

_Unfortunately this makes translations of texts written in the divine language frustratingly difficult, as I can confirm from personal experience. […]”_

_\- from “The Origins of the Rimworld and Existence in itself, Volume 2: Language as an existential Part of Reality”_

_by Professor Hadrian C. L. Caverius, Head of the Faculty of History at the Imperial University._

 

* * *

 

The meal Filipa had prepared was a feast compared to anything Lethan had ever seen. The table was decked with fine cutlery, a steaming pot of stew, a basket of small, round breads, and candles bathed the room in farm light.

It had taken the twins a lot of encouragement until Lethan finally sat down at the table. It seemed so wrong to him, eating sitting on a chair instead of the ground and on top of it all at one table with humans. When Darius filled his bowl with stew and offered him the basket he hesitantly took one of the breads. It was still warm and below the hard crust was a fluffy core.

The cutlery was another hurdle. Lethan had never used these tools and had only ever seen them on rare occasions. He picked up a thing that looked like a tiny bowl on a metal stick and twisted it in his hands, then placed it down again and reached for the bowl to drink from it directly. He noticed an amused look from Fili and averted his eyes.

“Why are you doing this-“ Lethan put down his bowl and looked up- “Why are you helping me like this?”

Darius and Fili looked at each other and Lethan couldn’t help but notice the worried frown on Darius’ face.

“Tell him,” Fili sighed.

“Well, you see-“ Darius put down his spoon and stared at the table- “Before you arrived, I had a vision. I saw a white deer, we assume this is you, breaking out of a cage and coming to us. We trained it in magic, but it ran away, then the vision got hazy. The next thing I saw was-“ he paused and looked at Fili again, who gave him a short nod- “You led an army of demons into Summersgate and left nothing behind but ruins and ashes.” His voice broke at the last words and he abruptly got up from his chair and left. There was a moment of uncomfortable silence, eventually interrupted by the sound of Filipa putting down her spoon, too.

Lethan looked after him in confusion when Darius slammed the door to his room behind him. “Wha- I don’t understand! Are you sure? I don’t even know how to summon demons, aren’t they really dangerous? . Are- Are you sure this vision was really about me?”

Suddenly it dawned on him. They treated him so well, they took care of him to make him feel safe. It was a trap, this whole thing was a trap! “W-Will you kill me now?” Lethan sunk deeper into his seat.

“What-” Filipa choked on her stew and coughed a few times before continuing- “No! No, we won’t kill you. And, no we are not completely sure that you are the deer from the vision, but everything seems like it; with the white hair and the antlers and all. Also, you ran away from your masters, didn’t you? And you can cast magic. Everything fits.”

“How do you know I can cast magic, you have never seen me do it.”

“Your soul is oddly shaped, it is chaotic and lashes out instead of staying within your body. That’s how I found you.” Fili reached out to a goblet and began to drink.

“But- But what if… what if your vision was wrong?”

She paused for a moment, glaring at Lethan in a way that send a shiver down his spine and made him sink even deeper into his seat.

“We have learned through… experience to take Darius’ visions seriously. But you wouldn’t know that.” Her expression softened as she put the goblet down and crossed her arms. “A few years ago Darius had his first vision. I will spare you the gory details, but what he saw was-” she stopped herself and shook her head with a pained expression- “He thought it was just a nightmare, but two days later our parents were… gone.” Her voice was full of bitterness.

Lethan just looked at her, not knowing what to do, how to handle this situation, so he remained silent until Fili spoke up again, with a sudden trace of determination in her voice.

“These visions are warnings of a possible future, but we know that it can be prevented. We have done it before, we will do it again. We will train you in magic, we will show you how to control yourself. I will teach you what I know about demons, not how to summon them but how to send them back to where they came from. Darius can train you how to fight, you will need it. Being an elf is hard enough in this world, but being an elven mage? You will have to defend yourself sooner or later. But together we can do this, we will avert this future.”

Lethan nodded, unable to say anything. He was relieved to hear that they wouldn’t kill him, but also worried about everything else she had just told him.

“Let me show you to the guest room, then I will talk to Darius.”

 

The guest room was what the nobility of Summersgate would describe as modest, only furnished with simple objects like a hand carved bed frame with floral ornaments, a nightstand and a closet with matching motives and gilded handles, and a soft vermillion carpet that matched both the translucent curtains and blanket on the bed.

When Darius knocked on the door a few minutes later and entered, Lethan was laying on the carpet with his limbs stretched in all directions. He grinned at the sight, then cleared his throat, to get the elf’s attention. “I… am sorry for leaving like that earlier. I think it is time for us to begin with the first steps of training. If you are ready that is.”

Lethan rolled on his back, then sat upright with his arms wrapped around his knees. He couldn’t help but notice the slight red discolouration of Darius’ eyes. Lethan knew that colour, it meant that he had cried. He was surprised that humans were capable of doing that.

He nodded and was about to get up, when he noticed Darius’ stretched out hand. Lethan looked at it and frowned, then continued to get up on his own. Darius quickly retreated his hand and crossed his arms behind his back.

Lethan followed the human through the halls into another room that was mostly empty. At the walls were racks with blades in different forms and shapes, as well as sets of armour. “Don’t worry, we won’t need these today,” Darius said when he noticed Lethan’s concerned expression, “for now we will just concentrate on what’s within you.” He leaned against a wall and smirked. “Show me what you can do.”

“But I,” Lethan stared down at his feet and shifted his weight from one leg to the other, “I only used magic twice and it didn’t go well…”

“That’s okay, I can protect myself. Just focus on what you felt when you used it. Try to replicate that feeling, then use it.”

Lethan nodded and closed his eyes. He had done that before, he could do it again. Pictures of two corpses appeared, but he quickly shove them away. He took a deep breath.

Pain. There had been pain. Also fear and anger. He tried to imagine being surrounded by humans, all of them armed with bats coming closer and closer, staring down at him with bloodlust. It worked unsurprisingly well.

Darius looked at the elf, standing there with his eyes pinched closed and his fists clenched, and raised an eyebrow. It looked more like Lethan was having a cramp than anything else. “Uh- I really hate to interrupt you, but normally magic works better if you relax.”

“I know almost nothing about magic. How to use it, or even what it is,” Lethan answered with a frown, “The only times I have used magic, I was attacked by humans.”

“Well, in that case there is only one thing we can do,” Darius said and pushed himself off the wall.

“Attack me??” Lethan flinched and stumbled back against a weapon rack.

“What, no!” Darius laughed and kneeled down in the middle of the room. “I mean, sure we could try that,” he laughed, but stopped himself when Lethan looked not amused at all, “but no. I wanted to suggest we start at the basics. Sit down and let me tell you something about magic.”

Lethan regained posture and hesitantly kneeled down in front of Darius.

“To understand what magic is, you first have to understand what a Soul is. Every living being consists of three parts, the Body, the Soul, and the Mind. For normal people they have a specific order, like… like an onion. The Body contains the Soul, which in return contains the Mind. for mages it is different. Our Souls are able to leave our Bodies and move around. It can influence the world in certain ways, even though it is not a solid thing. Like when I warmed up the water. Or you can move things around. There are a lot of uses, really. You said you only used magic twice, right? So your Soul is probably not used to leaving your body yet. This is where we will begin our training. Put your hand in your lap, palm up.”

Lethan followed the order and Darius held his hand above Lethan’s, without them touching. Darius gave Lethan a soft smile, then slowly exhaled. He felt something touching his palm, something soft and gentle, like fingertips running through his palm, even though he couldn’t see anything there. It was a strange sensation, but not unpleasant.

He looked up to Darius, who responded with a grin. “Now, Souls are not only able to interact with the world around you, but also with other Souls. Relax and breathe. Even though our souls are not bound to our body, many say that it is easier to emphasize the movements of your Soul with the movements of your body. Inhale to pull your Soul to yourself, exhale to breathe it out again.”

Lethan closed his eyes again and began to breathe deeply, he still felt the invisible fingertips on his palm and when he breathed out he felt Darius’ hand wrap around his own and softly pulling. His hand began to tingle, a weird sensation crept up his lower arm. He inhaled, then exhaled. And with another soft pull Lethan felt his hand being held up by Darius’, but at the same time his hand stayed right where it was. He gasped, opened his eyes and from one second to the next the feeling was gone.

His hand was still resting on his lap and Darius’ hand was still hovering above.

“That was great,” Darius smiled, “do you want to try again? This time a little further maybe, don’t be scared when it happens, just keep breathing with closed eyes. It is easier if what you feel does not conflict with what you see.”

“Okay,” Lethan answered and couldn’t help but show the hint of a grin.

He closed his eyes again and felt Darius’ fingertips in his palm and the slight pull. And again he felt his hand leave his body, but this time he didn’t open his eyes. He didn’t stop himself. He just let it happen. And suddenly there was a quick pull and he stood on his legs, and he felt Darius holding his hand, and he felt his body still kneeling on the ground, and he felt the ground under his feet. And in a weird, indescribable way, Lethan felt Darius standing in front of him, and he felt his smile, he felt the way Darius looked at him, and he felt his laugh even though there was no sound.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The city finally has a name and I don't have to call it "the city" anymore, yay! (The city name was added retroactively to previous chapters)

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you liked it, if you want more feel free to yell at me either here or on my Tumblr blogs Tagrasso and welcome-to-the-rimworld. My motivation feeds of people yelling at me. The more people yell, the quicker there will be new chapters!
> 
> This chapter and all that are yet to be written are dedicated to Filibusterfrog, Idkthylocinesareprettydope and Darkabsolwriter, my proofreaders! Thank you so much!


End file.
